The CDC thinks everyone born from 1945 to 1965 should get tested for hepatitis C. (Shutterstock)

(Newser)
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An epidemic of hepatitis C is afflicting the baby boomer generation, and federal authorities will roll out a campaign this year urging everyone born between 1945 and 1965 to get tested, reports the Los Angeles Times. Roughly 75% of the estimated 3.2 million people infected are boomers, many of whom picked it up decades earlier using drugs in the pre-AIDS era. What's more, the disease can remain in the body undetected for years before taking a toll on the liver.

"We have sort of a perfect storm of an age wave of people who are moving through time who are progressively becoming sicker from an infection that was acquired several decades ago," says a CDC official. Hepatitis C is the primary infectious cause of liver cirrhosis and the No. 1 reason for liver transplants, but new drugs that suppress the virus are becoming available.

I had Hep C. My brother died on the table twice during a liver transplant for Hep C. I underwent treatment for it. The treatment was horrible, but at that time they didn't have the drugs they have now. I was a nurse and got it through an accidental needle-stick. My brother got it from blood infusions during a surgery in the early 70's. Laugh it up, but if you end up with it and it goes untreated, it will kill you. Before it kills you, though, your life will be one of pain, more pain, vomiting and more pain. If you're lucky, you will die before the pacreatitis sets in and digests all your organs.